This invention relates to a process for processing perishable meat products, such as a piece of ham or shoulder meat, which having sustained deboning, additives and/or ingredients injecting (auxiliary to namely coloration and taste), tenderizing, massing and curing operations, is later on submitted to a cooking-pasteurization stage, inside a rigid or semi-rigid mold protected by a continuous (open bag) wrapping, at room temperature or in vacuum, after which stage it is demolded and taken apart from that wrapping to eliminate fluids exuded during the cooking-pasteurization process and for a suitable conditioning of the product surface, being finally repacked, advantageously in vacuum in tightly sealed conditions by means of different sealing means (stapling, heat-sealing etc.).
The above procedure is mainly used to obtain high quality products, in which an exudation during the cooking-pasteurization stage is sought, in order to achieve a best development of flavor and aroma. The fact that it is not necessary to prevent the juice exudation during the cooking-pasteurization, also means a lesser mechanical treatment of the meat piece during the process, which will allow to obtain a product with a best appearance, similar to the one obtained through craftsmanship.
On the other hand eliminating the juices is essential, mainly for suitable preservation of the packed product.
Bearing in mind that after meat product cooking-pasteurization and when opening the wrapping (bag), unavoidable product surface recontamination arises, after the final repacking a pasteurization or sterilization stage is required for correct preservation of the product. In this point, the further product heating once its final packing is achieved, was up to now the most used method to significantly extend the preservation of the cooked-pasteurized products, without requiring to have recourse to other treatments, such as chemical or radiations after final packing.
For such purpose, up to this time, several equipments were developed which generally include a great volume and high cost, with dilated operative times.
We can mention, namely, the use of autoclaves of nonstop operation. One equipment existing in the market includes three columns arranged one after the other for the heating-sterilization-cooling stages. The molds are automatically entered inside containing devices which passes conveyed by conveying means through said columns, the sterilizing medium being a vapor and air mixture, depending on the case.
Another autoclave of the above type includes a horizontally positioned boiler in which the containers enter through a conveying chain and a gate, either or not submitted to a rotary movement, to be pre-heated, sterilized and pre-cooled. Later on, and already outside the boiler, they finish their cooling without pressure. The sterilizing medium is water or a vapor and air mixture.
An alternative equipment includes an oven in which the products are introduced and which, after a certain period of time of heat contribution and further cooling, is unloaded. This process makes continuous work difficult, as it demands loading and unloading operations of the working premise.
As can be seen, the above processes all require in addition to a long heating time, necessarily a significant cooling time.
On the other hand, the sterilization or pasteurization stage, in addition to the above drawbacks, and mainly due to the long time of process with heat contribution, produces in a number of cases an impairment of the meat piece surface color by degrading the meat pigment, modifying therefore the appearance of the end product obtained.